Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2019 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 6 Articles
Purpose. Children with neurological disorders, such as cerebral palsy (CP), have a high risk of developing scoliosis during growth.\nThe fast progression of scoliosis implies in several cases frequent clinical and X-ray examinations.We present an ionizing radiation free,\nnon contacting method to estimate the trajectory of the vertebral column and to potentially facilitate medical diagnosis in\ncases where an X-ray examination is not indicated. Methods. A body scanner and corresponding analysis software tools have been\ndeveloped to get 3D surface scans of patient torsos and to analyze their spinal curvatures. The trajectory of the vertebral column\nhas been deduced from the body contours at different transverse sectional planes along the vertical torso axis. In order to verify\nthe present methods, we have analyzed twenty-five torso contours, extracted from computer tomography (CT) images of patients\nwho had a CT scan for other medical reasons, but incidentally also showed a scoliosis. The software tools therefore process data\nfrom the body scanner as well as X-ray or CT images. Results. The methods presented show good results in the estimations of the\nlateral deviation of the spine for mild and moderate scoliosis.The partial mismatch for severe cases is associated with a less accurate\nestimation of the rotation of the vertebrae around the vertical body axis in these cases. In addition, distinct torso contour shapes, in\nthe transverse sections, have been characterized according to the severity of the scoliosis. Conclusion.The hardware and software\ntools are a first step towards an ionizing radiation-free analysis of progression of scoliosis. However, further improvements of the\nanalysis methods and tests on a larger number of data sets with diverse types of scoliosis are necessary, before its introduction into\nclinical application as a supplementary tool to conventional examinations....
Background: The etiology of TOF is complex and the genesis of TOF has been associated with environmental\nfactors and genetic disorders, including chromosomal anomalies, aneuploidies, 22q11.2 deletion and single-gene\ndisease. Previous literatures have shown that a chromosome alteration in about 30% patients with TOF and recently\npublished articles reported that 22q11.2 deletion syndrome accounts for 16% cases with TOF diagnosed postnatally.\nCMA now is considered as gold standard for detecting genetic anomalies in fetuses with congenital malformations.\nCMA could detect a 6.6â??25% incremental yield of CNVs in CHDs. The aim of this study was to assess the genetic\nanomalies in fetal tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) by using high-definition CMA.\nMethods: This retrospective study reviewed all the fetuses diagnosed with TOF between 2013 and 2018. Prenatal\nultrasongraphic findings, including cardiac angle, and the findings of CMA using Affymetrix CytoScan HD array were\ncollected.\nResults: Ninety-six fetuses with TOF and known genetic results were enrolled. Right aortic arch was the most\ncommon associated anomalies (22.9%). One fetus with trisomy 18, one with 46, XX, t (7;10)(q36;q22), one with 47,\nXYY and five with trisomy 21 were identified. Clinically significant CNVs occurred in 6.8% and uncertain significant\nCNVs in 3.4% fetal TOF with normal karyotype. A total of four cases with 22q11.2 microdeletion and two fetuses\nwith Yq11.223q11.23 microduplication have been identified. Genetic anomalies, including chromosomal aberrations\nand pathogenic CNVs, were significantly higher in the TOF with extracardiac anomaly group than in the TOF\nwithout extracardiac anomaly group (P = 0.005). Abnormal cardiac angle was noticed in 24.0% fetal TOF. Genetic\nanomalies were more common in the TOF with abnormal cardiac angle than with normal cardiac angle (P = 0.001).\nOn the other hand, abnormal cardiac angle was noticed in 64.3% fetal TOF with genetic anomalies while abnormal\ncardiac angle occurred in 17.1% fetal TOF with normal genetic results (P = 0.001).\nConclusions: Genetic testing should be offered, specially using microarray analysis, for the fetal TOF with abnormal\ncardiac angle or extracardiac defects....
The poor retention and survival of cells after transplantation to solid tissue represent a major obstacle for the effectiveness of stem\ncell-based therapies. The ability to track stem cells in vivo can lead to a better understanding of the biodistribution of transplanted\ncells, in addition to improving the analysis of stem cell therapiesâ?? outcomes. Here, we described the use of a carbon nanotubebased\ncontrast agent (CA) for X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging as an intracellular CA to label bone marrow-derived\nmesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Porcine MSCs were labeled without observed cytotoxicity. The CA consists of a hybrid material\ncontaining ultra-short single-walled carbon nanotubes (20-80nm in length, US-tubes) and Bi(III) oxo-salicylate clusters which\ncontain four Bi3+ ions per cluster (Bi4C). The CA is thus abbreviated as Bi4C@US-tubes....
Background: Two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) enables objective assessment of left\natrial (LA) deformation through the analysis of myocardial strain, which can be measured by different speckletracking\nsoftware.The aim of this study was to compare the consistency of 3 different commercially available\nsoftware, which include vendor-specific software for measuring left ventricle (VSSLV), vendor-independent software\npackages for measuring LV strain (VISLV) and vendor-independent software packages for measuring LA strain (VISLA).Methods: Sixty-four subjects (mean age: 44 ± 16 years, 50% males underwent conventional echocardiograms using\na GE Vivid 9 (GE Ultrasound, Horten, Norway) cardiac ultrasound system. Standard apical 4 and 2 chamber views of\nthe left atrium were obtained in each subject with a frame-rate range of 40-71 frames/s. LA strain during the\ncontraction phase (Sct), conduit phase (Scd), reservoir phase (Sr = Sct + Scd) were analyzed by 2 independent\nobservers and 3 different software. Results: Sct, Scd, Sr were, respectively, - 11.26 ± 2.45%, - 16.77 ± 7.06%, and 28.03 ± 7.58% with VSSLV, - 14.77 ± 3.59%,\n- 23.17 ± 10.33%, and 38.23 ± 10.99% with VISLV, and- 14.80 ± 3.88%, - 23.94 ± 10.48%, and 38.73 ± 11.56% when VISLA\nwas used. A comparison of strain measurements between VSSLV and VIS (VISLV and VISLA) showed VIS had significantly\nsmaller mean differences and narrower limits of agreement. Similar results were observed in the coefficient of variation\n(CV) for measurements between VSSLV and VIS (VISLV and VISLA). Comparison of the intra-class correlation coefficients\n(ICCs) indicated that measurement reliability was weaker with VSSLV (ICC < 0.6) than with VIS (VISLV and VISLA)\n(ICC>0.9). For intra-observer ICCs, VISLA > VSSLV = VISLV. For inter-observer ICCs, VSSLV > VISLA > VISLV....
Endocrine monotherapy of breast cancers is generally hampered by the primary/acquired resistance and adverse sides in clinical\nsettings. Herein, advantaging the multitargeting antitumor effects and normal organ-protecting roles of Chinese herbal medicine,\nthe aim of this study was to investigate the enhanced synergistic efficacy of fulvestrant plus Tan IIA combination therapy in ERpositive\nbreast cancers and to monitor the early response by longitudinal..................
The last few decades of protease research has confirmed that a number of important biological processes are strictly dependent onproteolysis. Neutrophil elastase (NE) is a critical protease in immune response and host defense mechanisms in both physiological and disease-associated conditions. Particularly, NE has been identified as a promising biomarker for early diagnosis of lung inflammation. Recent studies have shown an increasing interest in developing methods for NE activity imaging both in vitro and in vivo. Unlike anatomical imaging modalities, functional molecular imaging, including enzymatic activities, enables disease detection at a very early stage and thus constitutes a much more accurate approach. When combined with advanced imaging technologies, opportunities arise for measuring imbalanced proteolytic activities with unprecedented details. Such technologies consist in building the highest resolved and sensitive instruments as well as the most specific probes based either on peptide substrates or on covalent inhibitors. This review outlines strengths and weaknesses of these technologies and discuss their\napplications to investigate NE activity as biomarker of pulmonary inflammatory diseases by imaging....
Loading....